Method and apparatus for signal presentation



W. GRAHAM June 24, 1958 METHOD AND APPARATIS FOR SIGNAL PRESENTATION Filed Dec. 31, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Hmm.

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INVENTOR WALTN GRAHAM ATTORNEY DDDDDD June 24, 1958 w. GRAHAM METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SIGNAL PRESENTATION Filed Dec. 31, 1952 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR WAL 70N GRA HAM ATTO RNEY United v` This invention relates" to methods apparents for signal presentation and moreiparticularlyrto methods yand, apparatus for the presentation of aural jsi'gnal vto enhance ther signal-to-noise jratio.

The threshold level of a toneinnoistflthefprirnnldilile`1y level) is determined primarilyby the"noise"'power'at frie-` quencies adjacent to that of the tone. The width of the frequency band of noise, Y:effective in masking the desired tone, is called the critical bandwidth of the ear at the frequency of thetone. The critical bandwidth is defined as that width-of noisearound'the tonezfrequencyf beyond which the masking' elect isfcons'tant, or the critical bandwidth'may' be defined as that bandwidth-offnoisehaving the 'same power' as the signalat'primaudiblevr The critical bandwidthfofthe humanfear'varies asaff function of lfrequency, that is," a person of normal hearingis able to detect, fin-'the presence 1of-noise, va; signal fof' agiven frequency whereas anothersignalof qualpower y y Patented June 24, 1958 and waveform@ of curve B represents a noise having an R. M. S. voltage e and having a bandwidth of fc. The noise power per cycle may be represented by When the input frequency of the tone wave 1 of curve A but vat another frequency' may be inaudible even -though the signal-'to-noise ratios of both-signals fareidenticale One of the-objectsof this linventionfitherefore, isto provide methods and apparatus of V-auralfsignal presentation which enhance thesignal-to-noise ratio.

Another objecty of this invention: is #to provide methods and apparatus to rmake audible a toneiwhic'h is below theprimaudibl'e level. l j i i A feature of Ithis invention is the provision of? means for dividingia given frequency bandWith-intoa` plurality of sub-bands which areeach modulatedtofall inta predetermined-frequency range at the' lowerfend of thea fre-` quency spectrum where they -areirecorded 'for a-certain Thesev bands are then 'multiplied Awith-a time interval; consequent signal-to-noise improvement, so they they fall in an advantageous critical bandwidth of the human ear and are aurally presented-in successionin a correspond- `ing time interval. The duration of presentation of each sub-band is long .compared lto the duratiniof the transient resulting from switching among sub-bands. I f n.

The above-mentioned'and other'vffeatres andfobje'cts of this invention will become'morefapparent by reference to the following description taken incorijunctionwith the accompanying drawings',inwhich:'

Fig. l is a graphic illustration"`of a set v'of curves' helpful in explaining the principle of signal-to-noise improvement by frequency multiplication;

Fig. 2 is a curve representing the effective critical bandwidth of the human ear versus frequency of tone before and after frequency multiplication; and

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram in block form of one system for improving the signal-to-noise ratio of a masked tone.

Referring to Fig. 1, the principle of signal-to-noise provement by frequency multiplication in accordance Awith one feature of this invention is shown, wherein the waveform 1 of curve A represents a tone signal at a frequency fo with R. M. S. voltage represented by is increased' by ajfactor of multiplication "m, the Vaveragef power ofthe tone remains the same, vbut the frequency' is transformed to mo as shown by waveform'S of.

curve" C. The average power of thenoise shown in 'curve D, .wavefor'm'lty is likewise the same, but the bandwidth is increased fm times to mfc. All the energy of the Vtone signal is present in one critical bandwidth, however thenoise energy at frequencies near that of the tone is dispersed over 'many critical bandwidths. Thus the average `noisefrpower in a given critical bandwith is'reduced by theffactor "m,since the product of the nisej'p'owe'rp'er cycleland thenew total bandwidth mfc remainsfthe same!v The noise power por cycle after multiplication may be represented by e2 mfc Y The Asignal-to-noiseratio in a critical bandwidth is therefore improved5`by/f'm times for signals with spectra as narrow asvor' narrower thanv the critical bandwidth vdividedf'by mf However,Y since the build yup time of the hunian ear' isnite'if is limportant to insure that 'the ml'tiplication'fwill not reduce the duration of the multiplied'signal'belowone second for optimum results;

If 'thecriticlbandwidth 'ofthe-human ear were constant forall frequencies, mere frequency multiplication would enhance -the'signal-to-noise ratio by'the factor of multiplicadon.4 Since the critical bandwidth of Ithe human ear varies with frequency, it is possible to achieve a greater improvement in low frequency signals than that due; solely to lther reduction of the'noise per cycle if the signalsiare heard'in more advantageous critical bandwidths. ofcourse, less improvement is created Vif the signalsaref'heard'in a less advantageous critical bandwidth?y Referring to Fig. 2, curve 5, the critical bandwidth-of the* earfversus frequency of the desired tone is plotted wherein it is shown that the effective critical bandwidth'of the human ear at 100 C. P; S. is approximately 18 dbabove -0'db 'wherein 0 db represents a bandwidth of V1 cy'cle per secondi If the 100 C. P. S. tone is multiplied'bya Vfactor of two, the desired signal is now 200 CL P.` S. Referring'ito curve 5, it ,isV seen that a 2 db improvement is obtained because the signal is now located in a more advantageous critical bandwidth where the 'critical bandwidthis only 16 db. In addition to this Y gain of 2 vdb,by`referring to curve 'which represents the 'effetivecritical bandwidth of the ear versusV frequency -after Yav multiplication4 by a factor'of two, it is seen that"`a3 dblgain is obtained because of the reduction of the noise power per cycle due to frequency multiplication as hereinbefore explained with reference to Fig. 1. Thus, moving the desired C. P. S. tone to a more advantageous critical bandwidth and reducing the noise power per cycle by multiplication yields a total improvement of 5 db. From curves 7 and 8 it is seen that, using a greater factor for frequency multiplication, a greater improvement is obtained due to the great reduction of noise power per cycle.

Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawing, a schematic diagram in block form of apparatus for use in accordance with the principles of this invention is shown, wherein for purposes of illustration it is assumed that a frequency bandwidth of 200 C. P S. lying between 50 and 2050 C. P. S. is to be monitored for the presence of a given tone. The input 2000 cycle bandwidth is fed to filters 16,11, lz, and 1s to dii/iat the input frequency band of 50`2050 C. P. S. into four sub-bands of 504550', 550-V 1050, 1050-1550, and l5502050 C. P. S., respectively. The output of filter comprising signals in the 50-7550 `CL P: S. range is coupled directly 'to amplifier :14. output` of filter 1p1 is fed tolamodulatoj'lS along with a 500 cycle signal from oscillator 1t`to `transpose thel lter 12to the 50-550 C. range, whilethe output` of filter 1,3 is coupled to `modulator 194 along with the 1500 cycle signal from oscillator` `2010 transpose the 1550-2050 output of filterV 13` to.V the ,50u-550 .,C. P. S. range. The` outputs of modulators 15,17, and 19 are `fed to amplifiers 21, 22, and 23, The output' of each amplifier 14, 21, 22, and23 is` coupled to the recording heads,24a,i24b, 24p, and 24d of multiple track magnetic tape'recorder 25 Motor 26 drives friction pulleys 27a, 27b, 27C, and 27d via mechanical .linkage`28 caus ing magnetic jtapes 29a, 29b,.29'c'and 29d tounreel from storage reels T3011, 50h,` 30e, and 30d at a` given rate. Each of the modulated sub-bands` of frequencya're simulf taneously recorded onto the magnetic tapes 29 by the recording heads 24.` The motor 26 drives a geared switch 31 through mechanical linkage-32. The output of geared switch 3,1 drivesjeach ofthe take-up reels 33a, 3,3,b33c, and 33d in succession at f ourgtimes, the speed that the friction pulleys 2,7, are driven,f but each take-up reel 3,3`

comprising the steps of dividing a given period of said given frequency bandwidth into a'plurality of sub-band signals, transposing the frequency of said sub-band signals to a common predetermined sub-band of frequencies, and multiplying each of said transposed sub-band signals by the same factor to a more advantageous critical bandwidth for said AsignalTte-twise ratio than said given critical bandwidth-'arid'aurally presenting said multiplied subband signals in succession.

2.1-A methodofaural signal presentation of an audible tone in afgiv'en frequency bandwidth having a givensignal-to-noise ratio and to which the human ear has a f critical :bandwidthaid tQnebeing inaudible at said given signal-t-niseY ratio and said given critical bandwidth; comprising the steps of vdividing ai given period t of said given frequency bandwidthinto m sub-bands of frequencies, modulating the signal frequencies contained in each of said subbands'toa common predetermined` sub-band of frequencies,"rnltiplying'the signal frequencies: of each of said predetermined sub-bands` uof frequencies` by m and` aurally presenting each of saidmultipliedsuobauds in successiorfora length of time equal to .:3. VAtlsystern fon-the presentation of an audible tonepresentinsa givenvfrequency bandwidth having a given 'signal-to-noise ratioy and to vwhich lthe human ear has a is drivenr for only one-quarter of the period dueto gear.r w

switch 31 which successivelycouplesthe.motor 26 to linkages 34a, 34b, 34C, and 34d. Since the magnetic tape passes the reproduction heads 35a, 35 b35c ar1d`35dY at four times the speed of recording, the output from each reproduction head 35 will he multipliedin frequeneyby a factor of `four.v The` multiplied frequency output from cach ofuthe Vbands is now converted into a range o f 200` to (2200) C. P. S. (SVO-#SSOtimes four). Referring again toV Fig. 1. curve 5, it is seen that advantageous critical bandwidths for the human ear` lie substantially in the my invention as set forth ,inV the objectsthereof `and in the accompanying clairns Iclaim: Y Y I V l. A method of auralsignal presentation of an audible tone in a given frequency rbandwidthllaving a given signal-to-noise ratio and towhich the humanear has a given critical bandwidth, said tone being` inaudible` at said given signal-to-noise ratio and said given ncritial bandwidth;

critical bandwidth, said tone being inaudible at` said given-.signal-to-n'oise ratio and said given critical bandwidth, compr'isingimeans to divide said 4given bandof frequencies into a pluralityf of sub-bands of frequencies. means to transpose each ofsaid sub-bands to a common predetermined frequency range, means to multiply the.

frequency` of eachofsaid sub-bands `of predetermined frequency range by theV same factor, and means for auralt n ly presenting each of said sub-bands in succession.

4. A `system according to claim 3, wherein said means to multiply includes means to record each of said sub-W bands of` frequencies at a .given rate and means-tto reproduce eachlof said` recorded sub-bands in 'succession at a rate equal to the recording rate times the-number of sub-bands; f

5.' A system according to claimf3, wherein said means` References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,108,895 Fessenden Sept. 1, 1914 2,117,739 Mi1ler May 17, 19,38 2,553,610 Singleton" May 22, 1951v 2,650,949l Veaux Sept. 1, -1953 2,705,742 Miller Apr. 5,1 1955 

